Zidane and Garnet
by ourLIVESareHARDgetOVERit
Summary: Zidane and Garnet, or Zidane and 'Dagger' discover their own love story. Very much ZidanexGarnet, R&R Please!
1. What Are You Doing?

**DISCLAIMER: No part of Final Fantasy IX belongs to me. Every character and place name belongs to Squaresoft. **

'What are you doing?'

Zidane froze.

_Don't move_, he told himself. _Don't say a word, don't look up, don't breathe. _

'What are you doing?' the person repeated. Zidane slowly got to his feet and turned around.

He was rendered speechless by the girl's beauty. She had a soft face, with delicate features and large, curious brown eyes. Not a strand of black-brown hair was out of place. She didn't look angry, or sad, or impatient. Just … curious.

Zidane took a deep breath. 'Uh … well … what does it – _look_ – like I'm doing?' he said.

'Do you know who I am?' the pretty girl inquired.

Zidane nodded. 'You must be Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII.'

The girl didn't nod, or shake her head. 'You're stealing from me.'

Zidane instantly dropped the bag of gold on the ground. 'Princess, look. I'm a thief. I-'

'I know who you are. You're part of the Tantalus Theatre Troupe. They performed _I Want to Be Your Canary_ for my last birthday.'

'Yeah, well, I was recently kicked out of the troupe. Some of the older actors sent a bunch of us – younger actors – out to get a bit more education.'

'You're stealing from me,' Garnet repeated.

Zidane had an answer. 'Now that I'm out of the troupe, I don't have a place to live. I don't have food, or money, or any family besides my stinking brother Kuja who lives in the orphanage because of our rotten father. I-I need this, Princess.'

Garnet studied him. 'You're the first thief who hasn't tried to run away, or who hasn't given himself up, or who hasn't tried to kill me. You're pleading with me. How strange.'

Zidane held his breath.

'Alright. You can keep that bag of gold. No sense in putting it all back now. Come with me, thief.'

'My name is Zidane; don't call me Thief.'

'My name is Garnet; don't call me Princess,' she countered.

'That's what you are.'

'Then what are you?'

Zidane was stuck. She was quite a remarkable girl, this Princess. She led him down the halls of the Castle and into the kitchen.

'May I, Quina?' she asked, turning to the chef.

He bowed. 'Anything you like, Your Highness.'

Garnet smiled and began to fill a rucksack with food – bread, fruit, stray vegetables, crumpets, brownies, anything she could lay hands on. When it was bulging and full, she handed it to Zidane.

'Here, thief,' she smiled. 'If you haven't found anyplace to live by the time you finish all this food, come back here.'

Zidane grinned. 'Thanks, Garnet.'

-

The next morning, Zidane walked into high school with a light, casual, unafraid air. He eyed every cute girl that passed, frustrated every boyfriend that noticed, and annoyed every teacher with his unashamed tardiness.

He also saw Garnet at school. When at school, she wore a white blouse underneath an orange jumpsuit, with red gloves and shoes. He never made eye contact or tried to speak to her, too embarrassed that she had caught him in the act of thieving – something he was supposed to be good at doing unnoticed.

After three days, Zidane summoned up his courage and walked up to the castle gates. The Knights of Pluto restrained him.

'Who goes there?'

'Zidane Tribal,' Zidane announced. A knight nudged his way to the front of the Knights.

'I'm Captain Adelbert Steiner,' he declared. 'What is your purpose?'

'I'm here to see the Princess, Rusty,' Zidane said, unsmiling.

'The Princess has had no suitors by the likes of you,' Steiner said, scowling at the nickname.

'I'm not a suitor; I'm here to see her about something else.'

Steiner turned to one of his knights. 'Fetch Princess Garnet,' he demanded. 'You, don't move.' Zidane rolled his eyes.

The knight returned, Princess Garnet on his heels. She had her skirts hitched up, running with her delicate lily feet across the courtyard. 'What's going on, Steiner?'

Steiner glared at Zidane. 'A little miscreant here claims to require your services, Your Grace.'

Garnet's eyes widened when she saw Zidane. 'What do you want, thief?'

'I-I need a place to stay, Princess,' Zidane confessed.

'You've eaten all the food?' Garnet was taken aback.

'I finished it on the first day,' Zidane said, with a hint of a smile. 'I just never had the guts to come and talk to you after that.'

Garnet didn't smile. 'You're welcome to stay at the Castle. Steiner, arrange accommodations for Zidane.'

'You'll be staying in one of the closed rooms,' Steiner told Zidane. 'You're not to go downstairs mingling with the prisoners, or going upstairs to visit the Princess or the Queen. Stay on the ground and only the ground. Understood?'

Zidane nodded vigorously. 'Thanks, Rusty.'

Steiner huffed as he stalked inside the castle. 'Zorn! Thorn!' he cried.

Zorn and Thorn came running. 'Yes, Cap'n?'

'Set up one of the closed rooms on the ground floor for Master Zidane,' Steiner insisted. Zorn and Thorn were gone in a flash.

'Can I have friends over?' Zidane asked.

'Whatever you like,' Garnet said, turning away.

'What's _her _problem?' Zidane said, forgetting that Steiner was in earshot.

'You wanna _die_, little squirt?'

-

Zidane was given a room suitable for a prince. He was to dine with the Queen and the Princess and the General and Captain every evening and to take up Thorn's duty of walking the Princess to school safely.

The very next morning after one night in his new home, Zidane and Garnet were walking down the streets of Alexandria.

'It's a beautiful city, Alexandria,' Zidane remarked.

'One day, it'll be mine,' Garnet said passionately.

'When you get married, isn't that right?'

Garnet nodded. 'I hope that when I find that right person, it'll be something so wonderful that no one can doubt it. Like Marcus and Cornelia, in _I Want to Be Your Canary_. Something really beautiful. Something with meaning.'

'That's a lot to hope for,' Zidane commented dryly. 'A beautiful love.'

'Isn't that what everyone hopes for?' Garnet said. 'What _you_ hope for?'

'Me?' Zidane said, confused. 'I don't believe in love.'

**A/N: Please review and keep reading. More chapters to come, but I'd like to know what you think of this first and if you're interested. Thanks for reading :) **


	2. Why Would I Think Twice About Him?

**DISCLAIMER: No part of Final Fantasy IX belongs to me. Every character and place name belongs to Squaresoft. **

Garnet walked into school wearing her signature white-and-orange outfit. She was closely followed by Zidane.

'We were out of sight of the Castle five minutes ago, Zidane,' she sighed. 'You don't have to actually follow me the whole way here.'

'Haven't you forgotten?' Zidane said, catching her pace. 'I'm new here. I don't even know the _way_ to school. I would've followed you even if you were going to a ditcher's club to smoke cigarettes behind the store.'

Garnet eyed him with disdain. 'I do have a habit of being somewhere when I'm supposed to be someplace else, but I would never do something so low and humiliating.' After a pause, she added mockingly, 'So you like smoking cigarettes, do you, thief?'

Zidane shook his head vigorously. 'No, ma'am. You couldn't pay me to do it. It's disgusting, what it does to your teeth. I mean, where would I be without this million-dollar smile?' He grinned. 'It helps me get the ladies.'

Garnet rolled her eyes. 'You could never be a ruler. You wouldn't even know the first thing about it.'

'Well, what _is_ the first thing about it?'

When she spoke, Garnet's voice was barely a whisper. 'Alexandria comes first.'

-

Zidane found Marcus, Cinna and Blank heading to Trigonometry.

'Well, well, well,' Cinna huffed. 'If it isn't the Princess-lover.'

'What's _his_ problem?' Zidane said, turning to Blank.

'Garnet,' Blank said, 'is our guilty pleasure. But we've vowed between the three of us that it'd be fairer and easier for our friendship's sake if we do nothing or say nothing about it. No dates, no lab partners, no nothing.'

'I see,' Zidane said. He didn't see at all. 'So you _like_ her?'

'Well, look at her,' Cinna said. 'She's _hot_. But we have no chance. So we stick to whoever we can get … which is limited, since not a lot of girls appear to be interested.' He picked his nose. 'I wonder why.'

Garnet, passing by, said, 'Can't imagine why, Cinna.'

Zidane laughed.

When she turned the corner, Marcus leaned in. 'Do you think she heard everything?'

'Doubt it,' Blank said, although he looked worried. 'She came up from behind us, right? She was walking fast; she was probably just here to hear Cinna talk about the girls who don't like him, see him pick his nose, and then walk right past.'

'I guess.' Marcus and Cinna turned sharply into their Drama class, while Blank turned a corner to go to Physics. Zidane was left alone, but he didn't go to Trigonometry.

Instead, he went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. _I wonder why this feels strange – finding out my friends like Garnet, my … benefactor. She's always so cold and indifferent to me. Is our relationship just professional? Because it hurts to see her so kind and open to everyone else, but she just closes her doors when I come knocking. I've never felt this before, but all I know is I want her to want me. This is strange. I just don't get it._

By the time he felt ready for class, the bell rang. Class had ended, and he had missed it. 'I'll try again tomorrow,' Zidane said, smirking to himself as he left the bathroom.

He met Garnet as he was exiting the school. 'Hey, Princess.'

Garnet didn't even look at him, but she smiled. 'Hey, thief.'

Zidane grinned. 'What're you doing this afternoon?'

Garnet didn't answer for a moment. She kept walking, staring straight ahead and breathing normally. When Zidane thought she hadn't heard, he opened his mouth to repeat the question, but she said, 'Why?'

'I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie in my room. _Rip Tide_.'

'I'm meeting with a touring ambassador from Lindblum. Wait – where did you get a movie? You had nothing on you when I caught you stealing fr-'

Garnet froze mid-step. 'You _stole _it?'

Zidane frowned. 'You didn't seem to mind about the money.'

'Because that was my _family's_ money! That movie is Alexandria property! Don't you hear anything I say?'

Just as she stormed away, Zidane remembered what she had said.

_'Alexandria comes first.'_

-

Steiner ran into Zidane's room.

'Master Zidane! There's a visitor for you!'

Zidane opened the door curiously. 'Who would come to the Castle looking for _me_?'

It was Cinna. He threw himself on the large, feathery bed and laughed loudly. 'Man, have you got the life here!'

Zidane smirked. 'Thanks to Garnet.'

Cinna clenched his jaw. 'So, are you two dating, or what?'

Zidane, taken by surprise, leapt to his feet and scowled. 'What? Get out! No way! It's not like that, idiot!'

Cinna raised his eyebrows. 'Wow. Okay. Good to know. Thanks for that.'

'Sorry. We had a fight today, because I stole a film from the store.'

'Eh, I do that all the time. You fought with a girl and you actually care?' Cinna snorted. 'Since when have you cared? Dude, we got kicked out of Tantalus because they were afraid we would start pissing off all their women. You're _good_ at using and throwing away girls. Why stop now?'

'Because this is the Princess. And she actually seems to care about me. She helped me settle in here and, like you said, I've got the life here. She does a lot for me, and just because I'm in her precious little nation. Which really seems to mean a lot to her.'

'I wonder if the chef makes South Gate Bundt Cake,' Cinna thought aloud. 'Do you know him?'

'Quina? Only because Garnet took food from his kitchen for me.'

'I think you like her.'

Zidane made a face. 'She's a snob. My nation, my people, my throne, my money, my property, my castle, my inheritance, my ancestry, my rules, my greatness and highness and all that royal crap. She just will not stop when it comes to this stupid city.'

-

Beatrix looked at Garnet.

'So he's annoying, is he?'

'He just will not stop, General,' Garnet said in frustration. 'He just keeps stealing from my kingdom and thinking things that aren't things he should be thinking and saying stuff he doesn't know anything about!'

'I think you like him.'

Garnet made a face. 'He's a thief. He's a two-faced, lowlife, mischievous little thief who doesn't want to wash his hands because he's afraid he'll be left with nothing. Why would I even think twice about him?'

**A/N: I know it looks like a rough start for the both of them, since one hates the other and the other loathes the one, but I promise I'll keep updating and you can see the story unfold a bit better. **

**Please review!**


	3. That's How Mad I Make People

**DISCLAIMER: No part of Final Fantasy IX belongs to me. Every character and place name belongs to Squaresoft. **

Zidane found Garnet at the dinner table that evening, waiting with Brahne and Steiner and Beatrix.

'Why isn't anyone eating?' he asked innocently, taking his seat.

'We were waiting for you,' Garnet said in frustration. 'What took you half an hour to get down to dinner?'

Zidane's mouth twisted. 'Well, erm…'

As if on cue, a redhead wearing a bubble-gum-pink sundress and six or seven bangles up her forearm entered, blew him a kiss, and left.

Garnet closed her eyes and slowly got to her feet. 'You're a stupid, redneck thief, Zidane! Who was I to think you might actually have a place in the Alexandria Castle?'

She stormed out of there, leaving a scowling Steiner, a cold Beatrix and a glaring Queen Brahne.

'You, young man, will move _out_ of this Castle immediately,' she insisted. Beside her, Steiner nodded his approval.

Beatrix's scowl deepened. 'You are a coward, Zidane Tribal. You refuse to face your responsibilities like a man and you hide it behind the disrespect you give to others. You have upset the Princess.'

Zidane's eyes widened. 'I-I'm sorry, but I have nowhere to go if you kick me out of here,' he said, smirking.

Queen Brahne got to her feet, towering over Zidane. 'Don't you _dare_ smirk in my castle again,' she said, dangerously quiet. Zidane's smile was gone. 'Listen to me. You will never get anywhere if you continue to be the kind of man you are – the one who will use the kindness and generosity of those such as my daughter to their advantage. You will kindly leave now.'

Zidane was about to speak, but Beatrix interrupted him.

'There's a pigeon coop out back. The pigeons are all gone, though, and you can sleep there. But if I see you within ten feet of the Princess, know that I won't think twice about punishing you.'

Zidane nodded, swallowing. 'I'm leaving.'

-

Garnet sat perfectly still on the chair. Her back was straight, her posture intact and her head held high. She stared out the window blankly as the sun prepared to set.

There came a knock at the door. 'Yes?' she said clearly.

'Can I come in?' It was recognizably Steiner's voice.

'Yes, Steiner,' Garnet said. But when the door opened, it was Zidane.

'What do you want from me?' Garnet said, her anger returning. 'And I thought you were Steiner.'

'When you're a thief like me, you learn new tricks at every turn,' Zidane said. 'I – just wanted to say goodbye. And thanks for the food, and for the _temporary _stay at the Castle. So … thank you, Princess.'

Garnet turned away to hide her smile. 'You're welcome, thief.'

-

Zidane trudged down to the pigeon coop with his single bag.

Cinna was inside. 'Wha, Zidane?'

'CINNA?'

'I've been living here,' Cinna admitted. 'When Tantalus kicked us out, I didn't have the guts like you, to say that I didn't know anyone in Alexandria. So I just figured I'd find an old abandoned pigeon coop like this and live there, and my dream came true.' He tried to smile, but failed miserably.

'Well, hello roomie,' Zidane grinned. 'Have you got any bedding?'

Cinna nodded. 'It's some fairly soft hay of some sort. I think it might have been that grass that the pigeons liked, but I don't mind sleeping on it because I've already checked it out and it doesn't have any poop. It doesn't look like pigeons are coming back, either, so I'm pretty much living the dream.'

'I _was _living the dream,' Zidane sighed, 'in the Castle.'

'Do you miss her?' Cinna asked.

'Who?'

'The Princess. I mean, you two are … friends, right?'

Zidane shrugged. 'She was nice to give me food and a home, but after all of that, it seemed like the only thing I did for her was make her mad. I just don't think it'll work out.'

Cinna frowned. 'Don't worry, pal, everything turns out right in the end. That's my secret philosophy; it gives me hope.'

'And what's more, the Queen was so angry with me that she took Garnet out of school. She's been given a private homeschooling teacher now. _That's _how mad I make people, Cinna.'

'That is mad. Why do you care about her, anyway?'

'When she's in a good mood, she'll give me anything I want – food, leeway with the Captain, help with my homework. She's like a personal maid.'

'That's low, man,' Cinna said, dropping his hammer. 'You _use _her?'

Zidane had nothing to say to that.

'I always knew you were shallow, Zidane,' Cinna frowned, 'but I would _never_ have imagined this. Why don't you try getting to know someone first, before you start to make a list of everything you want them to do?'

'It's not like that, Cinna,' Zidane sighed. 'I just …'

'You know, I bet there's a lot more under her pretty face,' Cinna growled. 'It's people like you who just never bother to try and find it.'

**A/N: Review, please! Just that little button down there. :)**


	4. T is for Terrific

**DISCLAIMER: No part of Final Fantasy IX belongs to me. Every character and place name belongs to Squaresoft. **

Garnet looked up from her book. Ugh. Why did Trigonometry even matter? It wasn't like she would be classifying triangles when she was Queen.

She glanced over at Brailsford, her tutor, who was poring over last week's homework. She had only turned her attention back to her book for two minutes when Brailsford cleared his throat loudly.

'Ahem, Princess,' he said, peering at her over the top of his specs. 'This essay is very well done. You have great ideas, excellent vocabulary, superb propositions and impeccable grammar. Quite a quality paper.'

He bent down and marked the paper with a fat _A+_.

Garnet sighed. Everything she did was so _perfect_. She nodded mutely and returned to her textbook, but she found nothing of interest to her in the world of three-sided shapes.

She was just about to get up and leave the lesson – risking the fact that Brailsford would be beyond frustrated, tell her mother, who would then be thunderous and give a monotonous lecture about how important education was to a ruler – when a pigeon flew through the window.

Brailsford gave a slight exclamation. 'What! A pigeon! Princess, what is going on?'

'I can assure you, Brailsford, that I know nothing of what is going on,' Garnet said, rather reproachfully. 'The pigeon coop is right under this window,' she added, 'so I see no reason why there cannot be a stray pigeon fly through, especially when you've opened the window.'

Brailsford went rather red. 'There was a draft,' he murmured. 'And Your Highness, in that little dress, too…'

'My dress is as good as any jacket,' Garnet said haughtily. 'If your shirt and vest isn't enough to fend off a _draft_, Brailsford, I can absolutely request a new set of clothes for you.'

Her tutor shook his head. 'No, no; I would rather not impose in such a manner. Princess, might we get back to the lesson? This tedious banter is pounding my head away.'

Garnet felt it best to ask Brailsford to leave before she got even more frustrated with him. 'Brailsford, I doubt more study would help that headache of yours in the least. Why don't you go down and ask Quina for a draught or a warm drink? I'll wait up here.'

Brailsford didn't hesitate. 'Thank you, Your Grace.'

The second he was out of the room, Garnet raced over to where the pigeon perched on the vanity. It sat contentedly in her fuzzy red dressing gown, which was draped over the vanity stool, and tied to its leg was a note.

Garnet stopped to think.

'Why would there be a pigeon? That old pigeon coop has no more pigeons. Did this come from the outside? Who would be sending me a note?'

Garnet noticed that also in the pigeon's beak was a bag. It was filled with some sort of hay.

Food.

She gently removed the bag from its mouth and spilled its contents onto the vanity stool, all over her dressing gown. While the pigeon ate its fill, Garnet untied the note with fumbling fingers and broke the seal curiously.

**Princess,**

** Do you like flowers?**

** -T-**

Garnet grabbed a pen from her desk and seized one of Brailsford's stray memo pads. She tore off a sheet and scribbled a reply.

_White lilies are my favourite._

_ Who are you?_

_Garnet_

She scooped the remainder of the pigeon food that the bird hadn't eaten back into the bag, stuffed it into its mouth and tied her reply note to his leg again. She hurriedly dashed to the window and as gently as she could, she let it fly and shut the window.

Just in time. Brailsford returned, rubbing his nearly bald head with anxiety. His steel-grey wisps of hair were sweaty and wet. He wasn't wearing his vest from before.

'Where have you been, Brailsford?' Garnet asked, rushing to his side to hide the fact that she was standing at the window's edge.

'Quina made me take off everything but my underwear and pushed me into the hottest part of the kitchen. He said since there isn't a sauna in the castle, he'd give me the next best thing – a steamy kitchen. Some of Quina's disciples and other cooks weren't too happy to have me in the way. Did I mention I was practically naked?'

Garnet smiled. 'It's alright, Brailsford. I'll finish my studying on my own. Why don't you go back to your hotel and I'll just tell my mother you were suffering from an awful headache. It's gone, right?'

Brailsford nodded. 'It is. That steam room scarred me for life, but it sure did the job. Thank you, Princess. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at this time.'

As soon as Garnet ushered Brailsford from her room and shut the door, she hurried back to the window and opened it again.

Just as she did, the pigeon flew back in. It held a note in its foot, but Garnet could see it wasn't Brailsford's memo pad paper. It was a reply from T.

She unfolded the note as quickly as she could while the bird contented itself with more of the strange hay.

**I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. **

** Is Brailsford gone?**

** -T-**

Garnet wondered. How did he know Brailsford was her tutor, and that she had been studying at this hour?

Then again, most Alexandrian tutors homeschooled their students at the same time other students went off to public school. And it was no secret that Jonah Brailsford was staying at The Westerley, Alexandria's finest hotel, now that he could afford it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Garnet quickly sent a return note.

_Brailsford's gone. _

_ Why does it matter? And why can't you tell me? _

_No one tells me anything. __I don't like secrets._

_ -Garnet_

The pigeon flew off, and Garnet closed her window.

'Garnet?' The voice at the door was familiar. Zorn.

'Princess? Princess Garnet!' Another familiar voice. Thorn.

'Zorn and Thorn,' Garnet said loudly. They entered, towels draped over their arms. They looked almost like waiters.

Bowing, they each said in unison, 'Queen Brahne would like to see you. You have visitors, Princess.'

Garnet hid her surprise as best as she could. 'Of course.'

She exited her bedroom, followed at a respectful distance by Zorn and Thorn. As she went down the winding staircase, she could see the visitors.

Seven men, all standing in a neat row, staring straight ahead expressionlessly as they waited by the doors. Brahne stood before them, obviously talking. Or lecturing. Or welcoming.

'… She will be here shortly,' she was saying. 'Ah. Garnet, darling. Come, come. Thank you, Zorn. Thorn.'

Zorn and Thorn bowed again and left with discretion. Brahne watched them leave. When the door shut behind the pair, she turned sharply back to her daughter.

'Garnet, dear, you are seventeen,' Brahne said, 'and four months. You have barely enough time to find a suitable fiancé before you're eighteen. So Captain Steiner and General Beatrix have given me a kind helping hand in selecting a decent few from the large group of hopefuls. So, come and meet your suitors.'

Garnet hesitated, but she didn't want to seem like a whiny stiff and cause a scene. She strode confidently to Brahne's side. In her heart, there sparked a tiny, dim hope that perhaps one of these suitors was T, her correspondent.

'What are your names?' she asked, praying silently.

Each suitor smiled.

'I'm Tristan.'

'I'm Tyson.'

'I'm Thomas.'

'I'm Timothy.'

'I'm Theodore.'

'I'm Tyler.'

'I'm Troy.'

Garnet felt herself die a little inside. My life, she thought, is just _terrific._


End file.
